Andy Roddick and PTPA co-founder Vasek Pospisil got into a shocking altercation after the American accused the organisation of doing little to support players despite their claims about the problem. Thankfully, peace was restored immediately after Roddick retracted his words and vowed to explore the subject in depth on his show tomorrow.
It all started with a recent interview the former World No. 1 gave to New York Magazine, in which he questioned the functionality of Novak Djokovic’s PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association).
Roddick had complained about the association’s lack of successes since its creation in 2019, claiming that they had not clearly outlined their goals.
“I’ve had board members text me, and I asked, “If you had to name your three successes, what would they be?” It’s like, “I’m not sure. Press releases?” There was an email sent out. Roddick stated in the interview, “We have professional photo shoots accessible for the players.” However, he does not know what the goals are.
As transcripts of the interview circulated on social media, co-founder Vasek Pospisil took it upon himself to explain the tennis organization’s intentions to Roddick. Pospisil mentioned other agreements the PTPA has made with partners to provide players with more access to airport lounges, trading card deals, suitcases, mental health programs, and other incentives.
Pospisil went on to say that these were all benefits that players did not receive from the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) or the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association), and he advised patience with the organisation as it worked to enhance the tennis ecosystem.
“As you are aware, the ATP/WTA system does not provide us with this opportunity as players. There is a so-called “player advisory council,” which has no capacity to effect serious change. This is why the @ptpaplayers was founded and is so important,” Pospisil remarked.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day… but this is an impressive start in such a short period of time. Players have sought an association for decades, but no one has been able to get it started or even know where to begin. Many athletes have spoken a big game throughout the years, but few have followed through,” he continued.
Vasek Pospisil told Roddick that the PTPA was concerned with more than simply press releases – a charge levelled against them by the American in the first place – and invited him to join the organisation.
“It’s difficult to express how much effort has gone into this over the last 5+ years, and how much this trip has detracted from my own tennis career. I agree that there is still a lot to be done, but as you can see above, we have done more than simply press releases,” Pospisil added.
“Our goal is to be a catalyst for the much-needed transformative shift in this sport. This is what we are actively working towards. I can confidently state that we are well on our way. We are the only organisation that fights for and represents only the players’ interests. We both understand how essential a player’s association is in this sport.”I would gladly welcome you on board,” he added.
Andy Roddick, however, did not take kindly to the response. The former US Open champion did not think the list Pospisil gave out could be counted as worthy accomplishments. He also doubled down on his belief that the PTPA did not make clear where their focus was.
“I don’t think that it’s that I’m not up to speed. I don’t think you all have done much. Seems to be press and photo shoots. You’ve negotiated trading card deals? Are you an agency? The list of accomplishments your CEO sent was hiring a bunch of people and communicating w slams……. That’s not an accomplishment. I’ve literally asked former board members what has been accomplished and they said nothing,” Roddick said.
“You sent out an email approaching yourselves for organizing the opportunity for photo shoot opps for players. Like I’m not sure where the focus is. Cool on lounge access at airports. Can be done w the right credit card usage I wouldn’t have responded but the quote tweet nature of your tweet made it seem like you wanted a response,” he added.
Roddick also did not seem to appreciate the ‘bragging’ tone taken up by Vasek Pospisil’s response in what they have managed to bring to the table for players.
“Like are you seriously bragging about getting players a suitcase?” Andy Roddick said.
However, the American’s response quickly got some pushback from fans, who responded to Roddick saying that he had misunderstood what Pospisil was trying to say. A few minutes later, the original response was taken down, with the former World No. 1 clarifying that he might have been “too harsh” in his takedown of the PTPA’s goals.
Roddick, more importantly, extended Pospisil an invitation to come on to his ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast and have a detailed discussion about the PTPA and explain to him why he was wrong to think they haven’t accomplished much.
“Gonna delete as I feel this is harsh if true. People trying to help. Instead I’ll extend an open invite to come on @Served_Podcast and tell me why I’m wrong. I’m sure as Vasek put it, I simply don’t know what’s going on,” Andy Roddick said.
In addition to co-founders Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil, the PTPA also has an Executive Committee that includes the likes of Ons Jabeur, Paula Badosa, Taylor Townsend and Hubert Hurkacz.
In light of Andy Roddick’s criticism, what has Novak Djokovic said about why he founded the PTPA?
As for why Novak Djokovic co-founded the PTPA with Vasek Pospisil in the first place, the Serb has been very clear: he wants to offer players more representation at the table, which he believes is not currently the case with the ATP and WTA leading the way.
In an interview with ESPN last year, Djokovic claimed that he believed the association had a bright future and was making ‘great advances’ towards their goal of having players’ opinions heard.
“Tennis has a wonderful tradition, and we are really proud of it. But can we reach a better place collectively? Absolutely… “We’ve been trying to clearly position ourselves in the ecosystem such that the players have greater power and representation,” Novak Djokovic remarked.
The PTPA is undoubtedly making great strides. And we’re making sure that the players’ voices and needs are heard…. I mean, knowing that there’s now a serious team of people in our association working day and night to build this association, [to] make sure players have a better livelihood from tennis, relaxes me. “And I believe the future is bright,” he concluded.
In 2022, the PTPA appointed Ahmad Nassar as Executive Director, having previously served as President of NFL Players Inc.
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